


The Power of Empathy

by PaintingWithDarkness



Category: Teen Titans (Animated Series), Teen Titans - All Media Types
Genre: Cute, F/M, Kissing, Mutual Pining, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-18 02:41:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14844077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaintingWithDarkness/pseuds/PaintingWithDarkness
Summary: Beast Boy has hidden feelings for Raven. Raven has hidden feelings for Beast Boy.While a certain green shapeshifter is afraid to admit his feelings out loud, he can't help the strong emotions he feels inside when Raven is near. Being an empath, Raven eventually picks up on these feelings and decides to act on them, and her own.





	The Power of Empathy

**Author's Note:**

> Second fanfic y'all! This one's BB/Rae too. I love this couple and can't stop writing for them. They're just too cute! 
> 
> I want to give a shoutout to those of you who left kudos on my last work and for the lovely comment I got from Ev. Thank you for all of your support! 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy this fic as well.

He didn't know what it was about her that just. . . drew him in. She was perfect in every way, from her looks, to her intelligence, to her bravery. He loved everything about her. The only problem was that he knew she would never feel the same.

She was. . . unique. That was the best word he could think of to describe her. She wasn't like other girls. She hated attention, was the opposite of outgoing, resented makeup and didn't at all resemble the typical teenage girl guys his age pined for. No, she wasn't any of those things. But maybe that's why he was so attracted to her.

He had been for awhile. At first, he'd brushed it off as a small childish crush. But then it began to blossom into something more. He caught himself stealing looks at her when she wasn't watching, admiring her in ways only someone who was more than a friend would. He felt himself going out of his way to get her attention and worked so hard to make her smile. If he could just get her to laugh once, at one of his jokes. . . but it would never happen.

He honestly didn't understand why he bothered. He knew a relationship with her was impossible. She couldn't feel emotion. She would reject him before he even got up the nerve to tell her how he felt. All she saw him as was a friend. Nothing more. She had baggage that prevented her from being in an intimate relationship. Anytime she felt, something blew up. She couldn't love. Yet he still went after her. And today was no exception.

He sat at the kitchen table, simply watching her. He had been doing it for a while, undetected. The others were out, running errands and they had the whole tower to themselves; just him and her.

She was settled gracefully on the couch, pale legs crossed in front of her and feet dangling an inch from the floor. Her back was straight, posture non-slouchy, unlike the typical couch-potato. Like most quiet days in the Tower (when it was actually possible, what with five teenagers living in the same place), the cloaked beauty had a book grasped between her delicate hands, violet eyes silently roving the pages. She held the black-bound tome at eye-level, arms bent so her cloak fell open, exposing the long-sleeved black leotard underneath.

He continued to watch. He was completely obsessed with her. He couldn't drag his eyes away. Her beauty astounded him. The way she could make anything look graceful and the bold and silent way she carried herself had him completely head-over-heels.

And she looked so intelligent, comprehending the words of her lengthy book. It was one that he would certainly never read, and he already knew that the words were not even written in English. It was simply too complicated for anyone else to understand; everyone except for her.

She was a mystery to him. She hid everything about herself under that cloak she always wore. Her emotions, her thoughts, her face; she kept it all locked up under that flowing, blue piece of fabric that always hung around her shoulders. He lived for the few lingering moments when she let her guard down and let that horrid article of clothing billow open in the wind, or when she allowed her hood to fall slightly, revealing her pretty face.

He loved her face. He found her full, pale cheeks with their high cheekbones and her tiny, upturned nose adorable. Her slender eyebrows gave her away. He could always tell when she was concerned, or angry, or upset. His favorite expression though, had to be when they furrowed together, when she was in deep concentration. Even though she tried to hide it, he was always able to tell when she was feeling emotion.

Her eyes told their share of secrets as well. The way they became brighter when she was happy, the way they widened when she was surprised or scared, the way they narrowed and darkened when she was angry, the way her pupils darted from side to side when she was nervous; he could write a documentary about her eyes alone: how beautiful they were, and how they revealed all of the emotions she worked so hard to keep buried down inside of her. She didn't know it, but he could read her like an open book.

Lastly, there came the feature that he loved the most: her lips. Oh, how he wished he could feel them on his own. They looked so soft and he knew, even if he could just brush his against her thin, grey ones, he would be on cloud nine. He tried so hard just to make her smile, but when he succeeded, he felt as if he would explode from the happiness that built up in his chest. She looked so cute with that tiny smile on her face and he just wished that she would wear it all the time. He hated it when she pulled up her hood to hide it. There was very little time when he had actually seen her with a genuine smile on her face.

Right now, her lips were set in a pout, her eyebrows furrowed together, deep in concentration, trying to comprehend the words her indigo eyes skimmed over. He loved that look on her. She wasn't trying to act calm and collected, or trying to hide a rogue emotion that was attempting to make an appearance across her features. The expression came to her naturally and it made her look absolutely adorable.

He watched as her slim fingers turned a page in her book, a corner of the parchment brushing the ends of her lavender hair ever so slightly. That was another thing he admired. It was so different from anything else he'd ever seen. The color was so unusual, but at the same time fascinatingly unique. He dreamed of running his hands through the short locks that framed her face and cast shadows across her angular chin. He knew it would be soft, and with his superb animal-like sense of smell, he always caught the whiffs of lilac and old parchment wafting from it every time she was near. It was her own special scent and it lured him towards her, making her the bane of his existence.

He kept his eyes on her. If only he weren't such a coward. Then he could tell her how he really felt. He was too afraid of the rejection he was sure would come; he couldn't bare to face her when she turned him down because she didn't feel the same way, or tell him that she couldn't be in a relationship because of her powers. It was unfair to both of them. He couldn't get the girl of his dreams because she could never be in a relationship. He wished, with all of his heart, that they could just be normal people without the burden of superpowers and the responsibilities of being heroes.

_'I love you,'_ he thought, hoping with the maximum amount of hope he could give that she would somehow feel what he felt. 

* * *

 

 

She had been aware of him staring at her the whole time. But she was puzzled. Why would he waste his time staring at someone like her? She wasn't anything special. Yet he continued to watch her with his warm, jade-eyed gaze.

She had tried to ignore him; he didn't know that she was aware he was watching her. She just couldn't. She was always aware of his presence and he made her feel. . . strange. Whenever she was near him, a weird bubbly sensation always stirred through her stomach, her heart beat irregularly and her palms sweated. She knew what it meant. A certain alien-princess had told her enough about this particular emotion that she knew the signs. It was just a little shocking to admit it.

Deep down, maybe she had always found him attractive. His pointed ears were definitely cute and his emerald eyes were always so bright and happy, revealing all of his inner joy. He was (though she would never admit it to him out loud) funny, and always managed to bring a smile to her face with one of his jokes. She was just thankful for her hood. The fang that peeked up from his lower lip made him adorable and maybe she hadn't noticed at first, but over the years, the young shape-shifter had filled out his uniform quite well. It had taken her awhile, but finally she had enough nerve to admit it to herself; she was in love with him.

She continued to stare at her book. She wished he would just look away and carry about with his own business, but he continued to look at her. She wanted to scream at him to go away, but he wasn't doing anything wrong. He was silent and kept out of her personal space, so there really wasn't a justifiable reason to yell.

Eventually, she couldn't stand it anymore. She looked up from her book, meeting his green eyes with her purple ones, startling him out of his daydreamy trance. He immediately looked away from her, crimson staining his cheeks and the tips of his ears. He knew he'd been caught.

In that moment, she felt a strong emotion radiating off of him. She had just discovered it herself, and here he was, expressing it. It almost seemed like too perfect a setup for it to be real.

Slowly she stood up from her spot on the couch and turned towards him. He stood stock-still, not daring to move.

She sauntered towards him, giving him the opportunity to run if he desired. She wasn't quite sure what drove her to it, but what she was about to do would change their lives forever. If she was right, it would be a good change for the both of them. But if she was wrong, she would be to blame for utterly destroying their friendship.

He made no move to run. As she came closer, she could smell him; that earthy scent he carried, like morning dew and fresh pine. He looked nervous, and with good reason. She figured he thought she was going to hit him or scream at him, but that was not her intention.

In moments she stood not even a foot away from him. She could feel his warm breath hitting her in the face. His eyes were cast down, that red blush still staining his cheeks, his hands nervously fidgeting at his sides. Slowly, she placed a hand on his chest, right over the purple stripe on his uniform and one behind his neck, pulling his head forward. At the same time, she raised herself up on her toes and leaned forward.

* * *

 

When their lips met, a thousand fireworks burst inside each of their chests. It felt right, kissing each other like this, like they had finally found a piece to fill a gap in their hearts they hadn't even known was there. In that moment, nothing else existed. It was just them and all of their emotions, mashing together to form something beautiful and indescribable. Their lips moved perfectly together and each felt a thousand butterflies fluttering within their stomaches as they held each other in their arms.

As they broke away, she met his eyes, a light sparkling in his green irises. He smiled at her, and after a second, seemed to realize what she had done.

"R-raven?" He stuttered, breathless.

"Beast Boy." She placed the index finger of her right hand to his lips, silencing him. "I love you, too."

**Author's Note:**

> That's it for this one guys. Thank you all for reading. I should have another story up next week. If you guys liked this one (or hated it), please leave a review in the comments. I love hearing what people have to say about my writing whether it's positive or constructive feedback. It helps me to get better as a writer and to improve the stories I write for you guys. 
> 
> Until next time!


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